Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder Holds a Press BriefingContracts for July 16, 2024Contracts for July 15, 2024

MAJ. GEN. PAT RYDER: All right. Good afternoon, everyone. Just a couple of things at the top. Then I'll get right to your questions. Yesterday Secretary Austin welcomed Singapore Minister of Defense Ng to the Pentagon for a bilateral meeting, during which they reaffirmed the longstanding defense partnership between the United States and Singapore.

The two leaders discussed opportunities to expand bilateral force posture cooperation and the importance of expanding joint training and interoperability. The officials emphasized the strength of US-Singapore collaboration on emerging technologies, as demonstrated by the signing of a US-Singapore Statement of Intent for Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Cooperation by the US Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence officer and the Singapore Deputy Secretary for Technology.

Secretary Austin and Minister Ng reaffirmed their commitment to advancing the historic momentum in the US-Singapore Defense Partnership and a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region. A readout of the call has been posted to defense.gov.

Finally, I know many of you have been following the status of the JLOTS humanitarian mission, or temporary pier. At this time, the temporary pier remains in Ashdod and a potential re-anchoring date has not been set. As we've said, the pier has always been intended as a temporary solution, and it will conclude its mission soon. But as of today, I don't have any announcements to make in terms of when the mission will officially conclude. Very aware of the press and public interest, and we'll be sure to provide updates as appropriate.

And with that, happy to take your questions. We'll go to AP, Lita.

Q: Thank you, Pat. Pat, do you know if there is any US military involvement at all in Ashdod as they try to get more aid in through that port? Is there any US involvement at all in any of that?

GEN RYDER: So, we'll have more details to follow in terms of, you know, next steps. As far as Ashdod goes, as you know, we have a convoy management board that's situated there with Lieutenant General Frank. In terms of US military presence at Ashdod in terms of accepting aid, moving it, I'm not aware of any -- any activity at the moment, other than to say, again, you know, we -- we are aware that aid has moved through Ashdod, and -- and we have delivered aid to Ashdod for onward distribution. But, again, we'll have more details to provide for you in the future.

Q: Just on -- just on that point, has the aid -- is there any aid on the floating dock that is offshore of Gaza, or has all of that aid been delivered now to Ashdod?

GEN RYDER: I'd -- I'd have to take that question. I don't know the answer to that.

Okay. Yes, sir.

Q: Thank you, sir. Two questions. One, during the NATO summit in Washington, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India was in Moscow meeting and greeting with President Putin of Russia. They have discussed so many issues between India and Russia, including military pact and also situation in the Middle East war going on, and also, of course, the Russia and Ukraine war. And Prime Minister Modi offered many options there and both leaders, that this war in the Middle East should be end because the interests of India of course in many ways. And also at the same time, war between Russia and Ukraine, also in the interest of India to end this war also. So where do we go from there? NATO was meeting here, and they were meeting there at the same time.

And where do we stand as far as US India military to military relations into this connection also?

GEN RYDER: Yeah. Well, as you heard me say last week, India is a strategic partner, and we look forward to continuing to develop that partnership. When it comes to Ukraine and Russia's illegal occupation and invasion of Ukraine. Ultimately, at the end of the day, it's up to Ukraine to decide when they are ready to negotiate for peace.

And right now, our focus continues to be on working with Ukraine to provide them with what they need to defend their country and defend their sovereignty and take back territory. But at the end of the day, there's no decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine.

Q: And second--sorry. Second, sir, if a lawmaker or senator acting as a foreign agent of the United States and have been found guilty by the New Jersey grand jury, Senator Bob Menendez is now as far as a military connection because he was found guilty in connection with those countries that he was acting as foreign agent. Those countries have military to military relations with the United States. So in any way that this meeting or military to military relation will be affected in any way because of a guilty?

GEN RYDER: Yeah, as it relates to Senator Menendez, I don't have anything to provide. I'd refer you to Department of Justice on that. Karla?

Q: Thanks. Just first to follow up on the situation with the pier, are there any additional airdrops going on or does DOD assess that there's still a great need for humanitarian assistance? Is there anything going on in the interim while we're waiting for the pier?

GEN RYDER: Yeah. I don't have anything to announce at the moment in terms of airdrops. Of course that's a capability that we maintain but nothing to announce specifically on that. When it comes to humanitarian assistance for Gaza, we know that there is an urgent need for humanitarian assistance. Of course USAID is the lead for the US government in terms of working with the international community and the DOD is supporting their efforts.

So we'll continue, obviously, to maintain close contact as we have all along with USAID, on that front to ensure that we're doing our part to support those efforts.

Q: OK. Thanks, Pat. And then just a couple questions on the country of Georgia. Following Noble Partner being canceled, are there any other cancellations? Has every mil-to-mil operation been put on hold for the time being? There's supposed to be some sort of celebration at the end of August. Has that been put on hold?

Can you give us any other updates?

GEN RYDER: Yeah. I'm not tracking any other cancellations at this time.

Q: OK. And then I guess, does DOD see Georgia still as a US friendly ally or does it see it moving towards Russia at this point?

GEN RYDER: Yeah. I mean we'll continue to partner with Georgia and defense forces, and we'll continue to look for ways to strengthen Georgia's ability to safeguard its sovereignty and maintain its territorial integrity. The decision to cancel the exercise was not taken lightly. We place great consideration on the extensive value that allies and partners add to exercises such as Noble Partner.

And so we're going to continue to look forward to future opportunities to cooperate with allies and partners. So I'll leave it there. Let me go to Constantine.

Q: Thanks, Pat. So CNN is reporting that remnants of two US made munitions were used in an Israeli missile strike on Sunday on a school in central Gaza. Does the Pentagon have a reaction or comment to that report?

GEN RYDER: I mean, I've seen the press reports, but I'd have to refer you to Israel to talk about their operations.

Q: OK. And just more broadly, this isn't the first time that reports like this have come out. Does the Pentagon leadership feel like it's doing an adequate job of making sure that the weapons we give Israel are not used in incidents such as this?

GEN RYDER: Well, look, I mean, we've been very clear to our Israeli partners on our view as it relates to mitigating civilian harm. And I think there's something I would hope we could all agree on. This war is undoubtedly tragic, way too many civilians have died. It's

heartbreaking to see the images that we see and that's, I think, a reason, a main reason why you see the US government working so hard to obtain a ceasefire between the factions that are fighting here.

When it comes to the IDF operations, we continue to urge them both publicly and privately to take civilian harm mitigation into account. We know that they need to do more on this front and we're going to continue to communicate that to them. I would also say though that Hamas bears some responsibility for this as well, in the sense that they continue to embed among the civilian population.

And if they truly cared about the Palestinian population, one has to ask why they continue to build command and control nodes, barracks, armories, tunnels underneath the city and put themselves in places where there's active military operations. So I'll just leave it there. Janne.

Q: Thank you, General. I have two questions. At the US and South Korea summit last week, the two countries issued a joint statement on nuclear deterrence and approval of nuclear operational guidelines. Does the approval of nuclear operational guidelines refer to new guidelines that will enable the US and South Korea to jointly respond to nuclear weapons in an emergency situation on the Korean Peninsula?

GEN RYDER: Well, I think, again, our alliance with the Republic of Korea is ironclad and we've been very clear that when it comes to extended deterrence, the United States makes available all of its capability to support the defense of the Republic of Korea. Of course, this is a defensive alliance. We're not seeking to go to war, obviously, in the region and we're seeking regional security and stability and that will continue to be our focus.

Q: Thank you. And onto China. China and Russia are conducting joint maritime exercise, including live fire. Do you see this as training aimed at the RIMPAC exercise?

GEN RYDER: I'll let them speak to the rationale behind their exercises. It's of course something that we monitor closely, and we'll continue to do. Let me go to the phone here real quick. Heather, from USNI.

Q: Hi. Thank you so much. So USS Dwight D. Eisenhower just returned from a nine month deployment that everyone is calling unprecedented. So two questions. Based on what you're seeing or what the Pentagon has seen since February of 2021, does the Secretary of Defense predict that these extended deployments are going to become the norm?

And then if so, and based on what's already been happening, what resources is the Pentagon offering the Navy in order to bolster up resilience among sailors who are stuck on a ship for nine months?

GEN RYDER: Yeah. Thanks, Heather. So I won't speculate or get into hypotheticals about the duration of deployments. I mean as you know, the US military maintains a wide variety of capabilities that enable us to respond to a wide variety of contingencies around the world. In other words, we are able to surge assets to where they're needed most to support our national security interests and our obligations around the world.

And so in the Red Sea area right now, we continue to see Houthi aggression impacting the innocent lives of mariners and the freedom of navigation through that important waterway. So we'll continue to work with the international community toward that end. And as for Navy personnel, confident that Navy leadership will continue to look at doing everything it needs to do to take care of our sailors and their families as they conduct these important missions around the world.

Let me go to Jeff Schogol, Task and Purpose.

Q: Thank you. The Coast Guard recently rescued Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, and I was wondering if any DOD assets were involved in the rescue, like satellites, Seal teams, aircraft?

GEN RYDER: Thanks very much, Jeff. I will have to take that question. I don't have any information on that. All right. Let's come back to the room here. Yeah. I'll come to you and then to Tony.

Q: Thank you, sir. [Inaudible] from Airway News TV Pakistan. Yesterday, eight Pakistani soldiers were killed and dozens of them injured in a terrorist attack, a terrorist organization affiliated with the Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility. Do you have any comments, any condolence about that?

GEN RYDER: Well, certainly, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those soldiers that were lost. I know that as we've talked about in the past, Pakistan is in a tough fight at times when it comes to fighting terrorists in the region. And so, certainly saddened to -- to hear that.

You know, when it comes to counterterrorism, the US and -- and Pakistan have worked together in the past, and we continue to discuss ways that we can work together. And so, I'd just leave it there.

Q: The Pakistani government and Pakistani military is -- is asking for US support. Pakistani military is asking for modern American weapons to deal with the situation because, according to them, all the terrorists in Afghanistan using American weapons left by US forces. I know US forces left those weapons for Afghan forces, but somehow they are in the

hands of terrorists right now. So, are you going to consider to provide modern American weapons to Pakistan?

GEN RYDER: Yeah, I don't -- I don't have anything to announce. As you know, we do maintain a -- a security cooperation relationship with Pakistan. And so, I'm -- I'm sure that those discussions are happening via those mechanisms to look at Pakistan's requirements and -- and what the US can do to support. So --

Q: I have another question. It is about the assassination attempt on President Trump. I don't know if US military is involved in the investigations. But do you think that any foreign country involved in this kind of assassination attempt to create disturbance in this country? We have -- watching a lot of news stories on the media that maybe any foreign country -- because we -- recently we have seen that a foreign government and foreign intelligence agencies involved in the assassination attempt on US citizen here in New York and also in Canada. So, do you think that any foreign country can perform this?

GEN RYDER: Yeah, I mean, as it relates to the attempted assassination of former President Trump, I -- I would point you to Secretary Austin's statement over the weekend condemning the violence, has absolutely no place in our democracy. As it relates to that attempt, I'd have to refer you to the FBI and the Secret Service for any questions on -- on the investigation.

Q: [Off mic] reporting on Iran, that maybe --

GEN RYDER: Yeah, I've seen those reports. I'd have to refer you to -- to DHS or DOJ for any questions on that. Thank you.

Tony?

Q: A couple hardware questions. The House Oversight and Accountability chairman today wrote Secretary Austin demanding V-22 accident documents going back a couple of year -- two, three years. He's threatening subpoena if they're not -- if they're not produced. This has been a long-running controversy with that subcommittee. Do you have any comment on that in terms of providing documentation that the committee is asking for on this highly controversial aircraft?

GEN RYDER: Yeah. Well, first of all, I'd -- I would just say up front that the department remains committed to the safety, health, and the well-being of all of our service members.

We have worked very hard to accommodate the House's -- the House Oversight Committee's requests. We've provided more than 3,500 pages of documents. In addition, representatives from the V-22 Joint Program Office and the military departments provided a briefing to committee staff in March, and the department made multiple officials, including

the commander of Naval Air Systems Command, available to testify at the committee's hearing last month on the safety of the V-22 Osprey. All that to say we will continue to work with the committee to accommodate their requests, and we will continue to do everything we can to ensuring the safety of all of our aircraft platforms, including the V-22 Osprey.

Q: And a less contentious hypersonic weapons question. Last week at the NATO summit, the White House and NATO put out a statement saying that, starting in 2026, the US's Army -- the Army's multi-domain task force will start fielding long range fires, to include the now developmental hypersonic weapon that the US is working on. On June 28th, you put out a press release saying that the weapon successfully completed what they call an end to end test.

My question is this. How close is this weapon to being deemed operationally suitable for production and eventual fielding? Will there be more tests, or was this the one big one that it had to pass for a graduation?

GEN RYDER: Yeah. So, with regards to hypersonics, we will continue to develop a range of hypersonic base programs, and we'll work to accelerate development and testing on these programs. As you highlight, the Navy and the Army did recently complete a flight test of a hypersonic missile from the Pacific Missile Range in Hawaii. That test provided data on the performance of the conventional prompt strike and the long range hypersonic weapon.

For reasons of operation security, I'm not going to be able to get into details on future tests. I will say, though, that we remain committed to developing these hypersonic capabilities that support the national defense strategy.

Q: You guys have spent like $12 billion over the last five years trying to develop this capability. You can't say whether this was the graduation test or whether there will be subsequent tests to prove it out more?

GEN RYDER: What I would say is that the test marked a step forward for those programs. And I'll just have to leave it at that.

Q: Not its graduation, but a step forward?

GEN RYDER: I'll just -- a step forward, and leave it at that. Thank you.

Sir?

Q: Thank you, General. Regarding to the escalation on the border of Lebanon, do you still believe that escalation could lead to the wider war? Do you have still this concerns? And do you think that the politic -- or diplomatic solution still exists? And what's your message to the -- both parties there?

GEN RYDER: Well, sure, I -- I think that a diplomatic solution does remain possible. So far, we have not seen a wider regional conflict. Tensions do obviously remain along the Israel-Lebanon border, and so we continue to stay in constant communication with -- with Lebanon, Israel, and others in the region to ensure that -- that -- that this does not become a broader conflict. Of course, the -- the concern here is the risk of miscalculation, which could spark a wider conflict that no one wants. So, we'll continue to stay very focused on that.

Q: General, do you believe that the -- any ceasefire deal could be -- reflect in a positive way to that escalation on -- of this area exactly?

GEN RYDER: Well, it's -- it's difficult to get into hypotheticals or speculate. But I think, again, what we would like to see is a ceasefire in Gaza so that we can restore calm and we can start to get humanitarian assistance in there. Certainly I think that would contribute to more positive outcomes in the region and a reduction of tensions. So, again, we'll continue to work toward that end.

Let me go to Charlie. Welcome to the briefing room, Charlie.

Q: Thank you, General. If I understood correctly, you mentioned the word about re-anchoring the pier at the top of today's session. Sources tell us what's actually being discussed is pulling the plug and dismantling the pier, and that may happen in the next couple of days. Where are we on that decision making?

GEN RYDER: Yeah, what I -- what I said was that a potential re-anchoring date has not been set, and we've said all along that this is going to be temporary and that it will conclude its mission soon. But as of today, I don't have any announcements to make in terms of when the mission will officially conclude. And when we do have information in that regard, we'll certainly be sure to let you all know.

Q: There's no window you can estimate?

GEN RYDER: Well, no, I -- I don't have a window, other than soon, you know? And -- and part of the discussion, of course, here is taking into account weather states, taking into account the requirement to deliver humanitarian assistance. Again, the most specific I can get right now is we anticipate that the mission will conclude soon. I just -- I don't have a date to give you right now. So, keep you posted.

All right. Thanks very much, everybody. Appreciate your time today.

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